Siilawy: The Emotional Singer Trending in the Middle East
With his beautiful voice, soulful music, and meaningful lyrics, 20-year-old Jordanian singer and songwriter Siilawy has managed to garner 550,000 + youtube subscribers, about 80 million views on his YouTube channel, and 530k Instagram followers all in about a year— as of December 2021. His fans describe him as a human, more than an artist, as they highly relate to his lyrics. They describe being “addicted to his voice” and his music “that brings joy to their heart”. Siilawy also noted that the most important thing for him is for his fans to be happy, and feel close to him as a person, as Hossam, which is his real name.
Siilawy confided in writing as a way to express his emotions and thoughts. “When I am in a dark place, I do not know how to share my thoughts with anyone; I guess it is kind of a cliché but for real, my music is my way to vent,” Siilawy noted in his press interview. “I bring emotions in every lyric. I bring melodies that make you feel every word I sing. I bring truth and honesty and humanity into the music. Music for me is personal and is a way for me to tell my story to the world. I feel that everyone can relate to my music because of the meaning behind my songs.”
According to Siilawy, his songs can be very “personal and bold,” because of the details he shares about his personal life, family, and even relationships. “I have a song about my mom, who left me when I was an infant, basically people were surprised when they heard it because of how personal it is,” he explained. Despite this, Siilawy is critical of his work and says he does “not like them because they remind me of hard times, I usually write lyrics when I am feeling down.”
Siilawy sees himself among the top emotional artists globally, and he uses music as an outlet to describe his feelings and life experiences through this medium. His main goal in the coming years is to keep growing as an artist. Siilawy does not like being compared to any artists because he feels that every artist is distinct in his music, and he also feels like bringing something new to the world. In terms of concerts, Siilawy is selling out every concern he performs in hours.
Siilawy’s goal is to leave an impact on his listeners. “Hopefully a long time from now, people will remember my songs. I want my name to be remembered,” he said. His goal is coming true as his songs are going viral, with his latest song “kodam ilkol” (in front of everybody) hitting 30 million views in 2 months. His newly released track “less ma’ki” (still with you) was released on December 24, 2021, and has gotten almost 2 million views in only 2 days. Stats are as of December 27, 2021
For his upcoming release, Siilawy aims to go global as he joins forces with Palestinian artist LXIV 64, who launched his own record label LXIV Entertainment to identify, support, and work with artists who grew up in similar neglected conditions to himself, especially those from conflict zones and impoverished areas around the world. The unique mix of English and Arabic in their new hit single Shadows, and its heartfelt emotional melodies, aim to take the world by surprise — as well as tell the tale of overcoming barriers through art.
Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/
Instagram:
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About the Author
Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
